Hoisting and dumping apparatus for oyster dredges or the like



Aug. 5, 1952 T. G. BENNETT 2,605,917

HOISTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS FOR OYSTER DREDGES OR THE LIKE Filed July 26, 1950 s Sheets-Sheet 1 7 Zhwentor u g i Gttornegs T. G. BEN N ETT Aug. 5, 1952 HOISTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS FOR OYSTER DREDGES OR THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 26, 1950 Bnnentor 5, 1952 T. G. BENNETT I 2,605,917

HOISTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS FOR OYSTERDREDGES OR THE LIKE Filed July 26, 1950 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3nventor v (Ittornegs Patented Aug. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOISTING AND D UMPING APPARATUS FOR OYSTER DREDGES OR THE LIKE ThomasG. Bennett, Hamden, Conn, assignor to West Haven Shipyard, Incorporated, West Haven, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application July 26, 1950, Serial No. 175,944

This invention relates to hoisting and dumping apparatus for oyster dredges or the like and more particularly to a device designed to be employed in the hoisting of an oyster dredg in order to effect the swinging of the dredge over the deck of the vessel and the dumping of its contents upon the deck with a minimum amount of effort and a minimum amount of labor required for this work.

In harvesting oysters, usually a dredge consisting of a frame with a bag attached to it is suspended from the side of an oyster boat by a cable of considerable length, and dragged along the oyster beds until the bag is filled. It is then hoisted by the cable and lifted over the side of the boat upon the deck where the contents of the bag are emptied. The present invention is concerned with the handling of the'cable and the dredge in such a manner that the dredge will be drawn upwardly into a swinging or pivoted frame and the contents automatically dumped upon the deck by a continued pull upon the cable.

The pivoted frame is secured to a framework supported by the deck of the vessel, the frame being pivoted between its ends so that a part of it depends from the pivotal axis and a part stands upwardly therefrom. The depending portion of the frame is so arranged that it will be in position to support th dredge when it is drawn upwardly and when the frame is swung about its pivot will swing the dredge to an inverted position so that its contents will be dropped upon the deck automatically. The dredge or the bag of the dredge will be engaged by a part of this frame so that the dredge will be supported inits dumping or inverted position and'will be returned with the frame to its upright position after the dumping operation so that it will be in position to be lowered for another dredging operation.

One object of the present invention is to provide a dredge hoisting or handling apparatus which will be efficient in operation and which will minimize the labor involved in hoisting a dredge and emptying its contents upon the deck of a vessel.

A further object of the invention is to provide a dredge hoisting apparatus by which the labor of hoisting and swinging the dredge to the deck of a vessel may be performed substantially entirely by the hoisting cable with a small amount of labor.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a dredge hoisting apparatus of the character described such that means will be provided 13 Claims. (01. 214-92) for locking the swinging frame in its operative or dredge hoisting position and providing means by which the raising of the dredg upon this frame will automatically release this locking means so that the frame will be free to swin about its pivot to position to dump the contents of the dredge.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanyin drawings: 7 I

Fig. l is-a front elevational view of a boat equipped with my dredge hoisting apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a side-elevational view of the dredge hoisting mechanism at one side of the boat showing the dredge in raised position just prior to the dumping thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts in th position occupied during a dredging operation; a

Fig. 4 is a view. similar to Fig. 1 showing one of the dredge hoisting devices in dumping position;

Fig. 5 is asectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is -a sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a detailed perspective view of the controlling slide.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I have shown a boat III having a rail II and a fender or bumper I2. It will be understood, however, that these features are shown only as an aid in illustrating my invention as my apparatus may be applied to a boat with or without these features. p p

A frame may be provided upon the boat, which frame comprises a pair of standards I3 secured at each side of the boat adjacent the rail, the standards at one side being joined to the standards at the otherside by the beams I4 and braced bythe gusset plates I5 so as to make a rigid structure. This'particular frame is, of course, designed-to support one of the dredging devices at each side of theboat as illustrated, but as each of the dredging devices operates independently of the other one, only one may be employed if desired.

Pivoted to the standards I3 of the fram work above describedis a frame consisting, as shown more especially in Fig. 3, of the side members It and IT to the other ends of which are secured converging frame members I8 and I9 to which are secured the side plate members 20 and 2I. Th frame members I6 and I! are secured together by the transversely extending pivot rod 22 and by the brace member 23 adjacent their lower members [6 and I1.

ends. The rod 22 is extended beyond the depending frame members I6 and I1 and the ends of this rod are pivoted in bearings 24 secured to the standards I3.

Secured to and disposed centrally of the frame just described is a longitudinally extending guide member of I-beam construction in cross section, which member may be secured'to the pivot rod 22 at its rear side and also secured as by welding, for example, to the upper ends of the members l8 and I9. This guide member, as shown more especially in Fig. 3, extends throughout the length of the swinging frame and, as will be hereinafter described, is adapted to carry a sliding control member which controls the-position of the cable in the dredging operation and also controls the release of the swinging framefor the dumping operation.

Rotatably mounted between the plates 20 and 2| is a pulley 21 over which may be trained the cable 28 which supports thedredge, this cable, as shown in Fig. 1, extending rearwardly and downwardly from the pulley 21 over a guide sheave 29 to a winch or suitable apparatus for winding and unwindin the cable to raise and lower the dredge.

The dredge member consists of-a bag 30 attached to a frame comprising spaced frame-members 3|, which latter converge at their upper ends, as shown more especially in Figs. 2 and 5, to form a neck to which the cable is secured. To the lower end-of the basket issecured a transversely extending rod member 34, the ends of which project outwardly from the dredge and are adapted to be engaged by hook members secured respectively to the front facesof the frame Asshown more especially in Figs. 1 and-4, these hook members are provided at the upper ends of strips 36 secured in inclined relation to the members l6 and H, the upper ends of the members 36 being held in spaced relation to the members I6 and I! by angle plates 37. As shown in Fig. 4 when the swinging frame is in its dumping position, the member 34 is held by the hooks 35 so as to prevent the bag from dumping downwardly on the frame and the spacing of the hooks 35 outwardly from the members l6 and- I1 provides for a more nearly vertical position of the dredge when the frame is in an inclined position illustrated in this figure of the drawings.

In order that the swinging frame may be securely held in its operative position, shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, until it is desired to dump the contents of the dredge, a latch 40 is pivoted at 4| to the guide member 25, this latch engaging a keeper 42 secured to a fixed part of the boat so that the frame will normally be prevented from swinging about the pivot rod 22. Two of these latches 40 are provided, one upon each side of the beam 25 and a wire or rod 43 extends upwardly from each of these latches to a trip member 44 pivoted at 45 to a bracket 46 secured to the beam 25 adjacent the upper end thereof.

These trip members 44 extend forwardly upon each side of the beam 25 to be engaged by the body portion of a slider 48 or sliding control member movably mounted upon the member 25. The body portion of this member is of channelshaped construction, as shown at 49, so as to embrace the edges of thefront plate-of the I-beam 25 and be slidably mounted on the'latter. This slide member also comprises a forwardly-projecting casing 56 open at its top and bottom, and in the front and rear walls of this casing are ro- 4 tatably mounted a pair of spaced rollers 52 and 53. Rotatably mounted in the side walls of this casing is a transversely-extending roller 54, which rollers are intended to guide the cable 28 and the neck of the dredge when it is received therebetween in its upper position as shown in Fig. 5

of the drawings, the cableiand-dredge neck being received between the rollers 52 and 53 and rearwardly of the roller 54. It will also be apparent that during dredging operations, when the dredge. is lowered, the cable will be guided upon one or the other of the rollers 52 and 53 as the dredge will be dragging astern and as is shown in Fig.1, theslide member 48 is in its lowermost position at the bottom of the frame at this time.

In order that the swinging frame and the guide beam 25 may be supported against the strain of the dragging dredge, a short post 56 of I-beam construction may be secured to the fender l2 directly below themember 25 when the frame is in dredging position, as shown more especially in Fig. 6. Thismember 56 is of the same dimensions in cross section as the member 25 and registers therewith so that when the slide member 48 is dropped to its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 6, it engages the forward flanges of the member 56 so as to embrace these flanges as well as the flanges of the member 25 so as to lock these members together. This not only locks the swinging frame in position to withstand the strain of the dragging of the dredge, but also relieves the strain on the latch 40' and associated parts as long as the slider is in its lower position.

The operation of the device may now be described. The dredging position of the parts is shown in Figs. 1 and 3 where, as will be noted, the sliding control member 48 is in its lowermost position and the cable is guided through the member 50 by the roller 53. The swinging frame is locked in position by the latch member 40 and also by the sliding control member 48.

When it is desired to rais the dredge, the cable.28 is wound up and the dredge is raised until the neck 32 thereof enters the member 50 on the slide 48. The engagement of the lower diverging portion of this neck with the rollers 52 and 53 draws the slide upwardly as the dredge is moved upwardly. During this upward movement of the dredge on the swinging frame, the frame members of the dredge and also the transverse member 34 ride upon the side members I6 and H, the member 34 riding up the inclined plates36.

When the slide member 48 reaches the upper portion of the guide member 25, it contacts the outer ends of the trip members 44, thus drawing these members upwardly about their pivots 45 and releasing the latches 40. The members 44 then limit any further upward movement of the slide so that the dredge frame is prevented from further upward movement on the swinging dump frame.

Continued winding of the cable 28 then swings the dumping frame from the position shown at the left-hand side of Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig. 1, the slide member 48 contacts the trip member 44 prior to the engagement of the'transverse bar 34 with the hook members 35 so that a suflicient continued movement of the slide member is permitted to trip the latches 40. The rod member 34 will, however, be in such position that when the swinging frame is swung to the position shown in Fig. 4, the ends of this member will drop into the hooks 35 so that the dredge member will besupported in position shown in Fig. 4 and not be permitted to collapse downwardly toward the deck of the vessel. The position shown in Fig. 4 is the dumping position of the parts and the contents of the fi ge will be dumped upon the deck, as shown a After the dumping operation has been completed, slacking of the cable 28 will permit the swinging frame to be swung from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 2 and at the left-hand side of Fig. 1, when the latches 40 will again be engaged with the keepers 42 and the dredge will, upon further slacking of the cable 28, be permitted to move downwardly by gravity to dredging position. During the downward movement of the dredge, the sliding control member 48 will again move downwardly to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 6 in which this member embraces the flanges of the members and 5B and locks the swinging frame in posiion.

It will be understood that the weight of the swinging frame is so proportioned that it is in an over-balanced position, as shown in Fig. 4, so that when the cable 28 is released the frame and dredge will return by gravity to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, and interengaging means on an intermediate portion of the frame and the lower portion of the dredge to support the latter in suspended position when the frame is up-ended about its pivot.

2. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, said frame comprising dredge-supporting members against which the dredge rests when drawn upwardly thereupon, and intereng-aging means on said frame and the lower portion of the dredge to hold the latter in suspended position when the frame is up-ended about its pivot, the means on the frame being disposed between its pivot and the lower end thereof.

3. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, and spaced means on said frame to engage the upper 6 and lower portions of the dredge,and the means to engage the lower end of the dredge being spaced outwardly from said frame to hold the lower portion of the dredge in outwardly spaced relation to the frame.

4. A dredge hoisting device comprising aframe, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained oversaid pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a member mounted on said frame to slide longitudinally thereof, said member being engaged by the dredge to be moved upwardly on the frame, and means to limit such upward movement of said member.

5. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its freeend, means to releasably secure the lower end of said frame to the support, a member slid-ably mounted on the frame for movement longitudinally thereof, said member being engaged bythe dredge to be moved in an upward direction, and tripping means for said securing means, said last-named means being actuated by said 'member upon its upward movement effected by raising of the dredge. I

6. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a-support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point-intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a slide member mounted on said frame for movement longitudinally thereof, said slide member being engaged by the dredge to be moved upwardly by the raising movement of the latter and moving downwardly under the force of gravity when the dredge is lowered, and guide means on said slide member to engage-the cable.

7. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a slide member mounted on said frame for movement longitudinally thereof, said slide member being engaged by the dredge to be moved upwardly by the raising movement of the latter and moving downwardly under the force of gravity when the dredge is lowered, guide means on said slide member to engage the cable, and means to limit upward movement of the slide member whereby further pull upon the cable swings said frame about its axis.

8. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate .its endsso that a portion of the frame depends downwardly .from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by saidlast-namedportion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained-over said pulleyto carry a dredge uponrits-freeend, a slide member mounted .on said frame to'move longitudinally thereof, said slide being movedupwardly by the raising ofv the dredge and following the dredge :downwardly'by gravity, and :means to limit upward movement .of said slide member at a pre-determined point to prevent further relative movement of the dredge and frame.

9. .A dredge hoisting device-comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about ahorizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly fromsaid axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to'carry a .dredge'upon. its free end a slide member mounted on said frame to move longitudinally thereof, said slide being moved upwardly by the raising of the. dredge and following the dredge downwardlybygravity,means to limit upward movement of said slide .member at a pre-determined point toprevent further relative movement of the dredge and frame, and

means on said frame to enga e the lower portion of the dredge when the slide member has reached its upper position. I

10. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, meansfor pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about -a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion'of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends-upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried bysaid last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said ,pulley'to carry a. dredge upon its free end, a slide member .mounted on said frame to move longitudinally thereof, said slide being moved upwardly'by the raising of the dredge and following the dredge downwardly bygravity, and means to limit upward movement of said slide member at a pre-determined-point to prevent further relative movement 'of the dredge and frame, and means on said'supportengaged by said-slide when the latter is in its lowermost position to hold the frame-against movement.

11. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means forpivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at apoint intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a slide member mounted on said frame to move longitudinally thereof, said slide being moved upwardly by the raising of the dredge and following the dredge downwardly by. gravity, and means to'limit upward movement of said slide memberfat a pre-determined point to prevent further relative movement of the dredge and frame, latching means on said frame to engage a part of thesupport and prevent relative movement with respect to'the support, and tripping means engaged by said slide and connected to said latching means to move said latching means to inoperative position.

12. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that'a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, .a pulley carried by said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a slide member mounted on said frame to move longitudinally thereof, said slide being moved upwardly by the raising of the dredge and following the dredge downwardly by gravity, and means to limit upward movement of said slide member at a pre-determined point to prevent further relative movement of the dredge and frame, cooperating means on said slide and support to prevent relative movement of the frame with respect to the support when the slide is in its lowermost position.

13. A dredge hoisting device comprising a frame, means for pivoting said frame upon a support to swing about a horizontal axis at a point intermediate its ends so that a portion of the frame depends downwardly from said axis and another portion extends upwardly therefrom, a pulley carriedby said last-named portion of the frame above the pivotal axis, a cable trained over said pulley to carry a dredge upon its free end, a slide member mounted on said frame to move longitudinally thereof, said slide being moved upwardly by theraising of the dredge and following the dredge downwardly by gravity, means to limit upward movement of said slide member at a pre-determined point to prevent further relative movement of the dredge and frame, said slide having an opening through which said cable extends, and guide means for the cable carried by said slide.

THOMAS G. BENNETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

. UNITED STATES PATENTS Estey Oct. 17, 1950 

